Should I apply this summer & my chances?

[Ulib]

• Bio undergrad, 3.12 GPA (in Canada)
• MPH grad, ~3.9 GPA (in the US)
• Standard ECs like leadership & volunteering, research, etc. Not much shadowing experience
• MCAT from 2005,2006--> Terrible
• Redid some courses over the past yr (OC 1&2, Biochem, Anatomy, Physio, etc.) and earned A's, rather than C's & lower (like the first time around)...this should increase the 3.12 GPA

If I re-write the MCAT late July/early Aug (2009), but apply this June to allopathic schools, my improved MCAT (>30) won't be available until ~ Sept.

What do you guys think....should I apply this year, do I even have a shot at allopathic schools? What about osteopathic ones?

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[Mobius1985]

Here is a DO GPA calculator:http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=450050

They will include your grad school GPA. They will not include the poor grade of a course you retook, so only put in the most recent grade, provided it had the same or more credit hours. Let us know what you come up with. You can also report it in the Pre-Osteo thread you posted on. Without hard numbers, it's hard to tell you what your chances are. And how bad was your MCAT score?

 

[LateBl00meR]

I heard that starting in July, schools will see every MCAT you've taken, even if they have lapsed.

 

[Ulib]

I heard that starting in July, schools will see every MCAT you've taken, even if they have lapsed.

From what I can tell, this is true

 

[Ulib]

Here is a DO GPA calculator:http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=450050

They will include your grad school GPA. They will not include the poor grade of a course you retook, so only put in the most recent grade, provided it had the same or more credit hours. Let us know what you come up with. You can also report it in the Pre-Osteo thread you posted on. Without hard numbers, it's hard to tell you what your chances are. And how bad was your MCAT score?

OK, I'm working on that GPA calculation now, although it is for Osteo schools and I am interested in both DO & MD schools. The MCATs were *really* bad; the total wasn't in the teens but I didn't hit double digits in any sub-section

 

[sleepy12]

Its hard to tell w/o a more complete picture of your app. But while you did do excellent in your MPH classes, they are not science classes and the admissions committees will still need SOME type of evidence you can do well in science classes. Hopefully you can prove this on the MCAT!

 

[Ulib]

So I used that Excel Sheet:

Overall: 3.504
sGPA: 3.322
Freshman: 3.491
Sophomore: 3.067
Junior: 3.700
Senior: #DIV/0!
Post-bac GPA: #DIV/0!

I'm not sure if it computed properly, those averages seem high to me.

I counted repeats as "Senior" even though they are basically Junior-level classes. I did this because I am repeating after already having graduated from undergrad.

Regarding sleepy's comments, i.e. the AdCom needing evidence for me doing well in Science Classes, some MPH classes were stats classes (not a life science though). Also, I retook some classes (if you look at the last point in my original post) and did well, but you are right, I need to do well on the MCAT I'm not sure how much more complete a picture I can give of my app? Anything else you need to know?

 

[Stratego]

The DO GPA calculator spreadsheet is removing the poor grade where you retook a class and including your high grad school GPA. This tells us that if you apply to DO schools your AACOMAS application GPA of 3.5 will be above average for accepted students. That means with an MCAT of 24, you still have a decent chance at an admission to one of them.

Frankly, you have no reasonable chance at MD medical schools with a 3.12 GPA (does that include the retakes?) as they will not regard your grad school GPA when making a decision, unless you get an MCAT score of maybe 43.

 

[tiedyeddog]

The DO GPA calculator spreadsheet is removing the poor grade where you retook a class and including your high grad school GPA. This tells us that if you apply to DO schools your AACOMAS application GPA of 3.5 will be above average for accepted students. That means with an MCAT of 24, you still have a decent chance at an admission to one of them.

Frankly, you have no reasonable chance at MD medical schools with a 3.12 GPA (does that include the retakes?) as they will not regard your grad school GPA when making a decision, unless you get an MCAT score of maybe 43.

Good advice here.

 

[Ulib]

Frankly, you have no reasonable chance at MD medical schools with a 3.12 GPA (does that include the retakes?) as they will not regard your grad school GPA when making a decision, unless you get an MCAT score of maybe 43.

no

 

[Stratego]

Sorry, I just reread your first post and had forgotten that part. What is your uGPA including the undergrad classes you retook, but not including classes you took toward your masters?

 

[amine2086]

• Bio undergrad, 3.12 GPA (in Canada)
• MPH grad, ~3.9 GPA (in the US)
• Standard ECs like leadership & volunteering, research, etc. Not much shadowing experience
• MCAT from 2005,2006--> Terrible
• Redid some courses over the past yr (OC 1&2, Biochem, Anatomy, Physio, etc.) and earned A's, rather than C's & lower (like the first time around)...this should increase the 3.12 GPA

If I re-write the MCAT late July/early Aug (2009), but apply this June to allopathic schools, my improved MCAT (>30) won't be available until ~ Sept.

What do you guys think....should I apply this year, do I even have a shot at allopathic schools? What about osteopathic ones?

I personally think September is a little too late to complete an application. Even though you may have all parts of your application complete by June, school will not be able to consider you for interview until your MCAT scores are available. So my suggestion is to take the year off and improve your EC (maybe do some shadowing). Otherwise take the MCAT earlier.

 

[Mobius1985]

OP, here is an AMCAS GPA calculator: http://medschool.ucsf.edu/postbac/pdf/AMCAS%20GPA_Calculator%20Version%204%20Final.xls